1 Peter 2:21 NLT
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22 He
never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
Jesus never said that being a Christian in the world was
going to be easy. In fact He tells us the opposite. In John we hear Jesus say, “18 “If the world hates
you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to
it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the
world, so it hates you.”nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
Seven years ago Alex
and Brett Harris published “Do Hard Things.” When
they wrote the book they were still teenagers reaching out to other teens.
Their message? Choose to do hard things for God, especially when the world says
to do something different. Now as young adults they are continuing their
message of “rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing
to “do hard things” for the glory of God.”
They are following the example that Jesus gave us and
that Peter wrote about in verses 22-25. From a worldly view Jesus did hard
things. We need to follow this example too. Will it be difficult? You bet it
will. There are many who believe that Christianity in the United States is
coming under attack. Understand that I am in no way comparing this to the
persecution that Christians are under in other parts of the world. There is no
comparison. Around the world Christians are daily living out their faith and
dying for it. What I am saying is that Christians are more and more coming
under attack for being intolerant because of our beliefs.
Let’s go back to verse 1 where we are called to do good
and that by doing good it could mean suffering. We have to remember that we
live in the world but not of it. We are going to suffer. We are going to be
hated. This is nothing new. It has already been going on around the world for a
very long time. It just seems new because we are starting to feel some of that
hatred and intolerance.
I cannot talk about hatred and intolerance without being
reminded of what Jesus teaches us in Matthew
5 and Luke 6 about revenge and loving our enemies. He does not tell us to
attack them. He tells us not take revenge and that we need to love them, do
good to them, bless them and pray for them. This is just another example of
living the way that Christ taught us to live. Strive with me to live this way
every day!
Gracious and loving Father we thank you that even though
we live in this world that we are not of it. Give us the strength we need daily
to love, to bless, to do good and to pray for everyone. Let us be your light in
world. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
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